


Breakthrough

by ideallyqualia



Series: Rare Pairs [46]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Universe, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 04:53:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4692758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideallyqualia/pseuds/ideallyqualia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nishinoya is one of the most admirable liberos Yaku's ever met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breakthrough

**Author's Note:**

> For an old request from tumblr! (Requests now closed) Spoilers for the training camp arc with Fukurodani.

Most of Nekoma felt bad for Karasuno. Even with the odd quick, they didn't win that often.     

Kuroo was mildly good-natured about it, only teasing Karasuno's third years, but Yamamoto was indiscriminately goading them. Yaku threw a volleyball at him, just light enough to sting.

Yamamoto clutched his arm and opened his mouth, ready to yell something, but Yaku raised another volleyball in the air.

"You're a libero. You shouldn't have that kind of accuracy," Kuroo told him.

"He should just let them do their flying falls in peace." Yaku took another sip of water and fell silent, relishing the break as they stood around and cast glances at Karasuno.

Some of the Karasuno players seemed fine with the penalty laps, but a few, like Hinata, were sloppy and slow. The person who was the best at flying falls was Nishinoya. Liberos were better at flying falls by virtue of their position, so Yaku wasn't surprised.

"They're getting tired, so the more penalties they do the more tired they get, and the harder it'll be to play after it. Karasuno's stuck," Bokuto said from beside Kuroo.

It probably felt like Karasuno was being picked on. They knew they were one of the weakest teams at this training camp, but they weren't that disheartened by it. Two of their first years looked excited just to be here. 

Yaku couldn't help but compare himself to other liberos. He didn't actively analyze other players to improve his own receives, and he didn't watch the court so intently that receives were the only thing on his mind, he had to keep track of the offense too. He just let it happen when it did. That was why, when he saw the sincerity of Nishinoya's drive for improvement, and his humility with acknowledging himself and pride, Yaku couldn't help feeling bitter with himself. Not jealousy of Nishinoya, just personal bitterness. There was nothing about Nishinoya that Yaku didn't like.

After practice, Yaku found a seat next to Kuroo for lunch. It was the first seat his eyes were drawn to, and he wanted to take a seat and duck as soon as possible so he wouldn't have to sit with Lev. 

"Lev's with Kenma and Hinata, you know," Kuroo said. 

"Well,  _now_ he is," Yaku mumbled into his drink. Daichi joined them after a minute, and Nishinoya drifted along, both of them sitting across from Kuroo and Yaku.

"Karasuno's getting better," Kuroo said, more to Daichi than the others. "Really fast. It's almost annoying how fast your team evolves." 

"Almost," Daichi said with a smile.

Nishinoya wasn't talking. Yaku didn't notice at first, he was too busy eating to realize the lull in conversation on this side was from Nishinoya, but when he glanced up, he saw Nishinoya looking at him intensely. Nishinoya was eating, too, but he wasn't paying attention to the food between his chopsticks. 

"What?" Yaku asked. 

"Your team is really good at receives," Nishinoya said. There wasn't any envy to his voice, but Yaku thought his interest still meant something. 

Yaku's mouth turned proud, lifting just a little. "Nekoma's receives are the backbone of the team.Teams can't score points if the ball doesn't touch the ground." 

Nishinoya pointed away at the other tables. "The first years are still learning, with us."

The conversation seemed to pull Nishinoya out of reverie. He returned to eating, giving his food attention instead of the detached interest from before. 

Yaku ate, too, but slower, thinking over the genuine feelings he sensed from Nishinoya. Nishinoya was an honest person, and Yaku could tell that he was determined in everything he did, his energy felt very honest with the enthusiasm he greeted people. It was hard to ignore.

"I saw you toss earlier," Yaku said, dragging his chopstick over his rice as he thought about it. It wasn't against the rules, but it wasn't easy to pull off.

Nishinoya made mumbling noises, food still in his mouth. He wasn't trying to talk with his mouth full, though, he was just making noises.

"Yeah, I saw Seijou's libero do it before," Nishinoya said after swallowing. Nishinoya waved his chopstick around, gesturing uselessly.

"I have…no way of going about that. It sounds like it'd be a disaster," Yaku said. 

Yaku kept digging his chopsticks in his food idly. If Nekoma had steady, balanced power supported by its defense, then Karasuno's brash unpredictable power was maintained by its evolutionary potential. He knew Kageyama was learning a new toss, but everyone else from karasuno had their own personal growths coming together. Nishinoya was no exception, Yaku noticed.

Nishinoya finished, and he stood up to clean off his plate and return it. By the time Yaku was done, he found Nishinoya with Tanaka and Yamamoto, the three of them loudly talking and walking to the gym.

Yaku leaned forward curiously as he caught up to them. "What are you three doing?"

"We're gonna help Noya practice tosses," Tanaka said. 

"This I have to see." Yaku followed them into the gym and stood on the sideline, stretching to warm himself up for practice as he watched them try to spike Nishinoya's tosses. 

All of the tosses were wobbly in their trajectories, some more accurate than others. Yaku knew even less about tosses than Nishinoya -- or he assumed at least, since Nishinoya was confident about doing them -- but he knew they didn't come close to Kageyama's skill level.

One ball hit Yamamoto in the face. Yamamoto didn't complete his spiking motion, instead freezing his arm and landing on his feet with his mouth twitching. Tanaka burst out laughing. 

Nishinoya dragged his hands down his face. "That was horrible."

"It wasn't that bad," Tanaka said, but his laughter made it unconvincing.

Nishinoya turned his head, one hand on his face and the other outstretched in the air, fingers spread. "I'm not going to toss anymore today. I should wait for Suga-san to help."

Yaku hid his silent snickering into his hand. It reminded him of Bokuto's dejected modes, although it wasn't as exaggerated as Bokuto. 

Nishinoya looked to Yaku for Yaku's reaction, and when he saw Yaku's eyes crinkling with the expression of laughter above his hands hiding his mouth, Nishinoya's eyes narrowed. It wasn't a malicious glare; Yaku could tell by Nishinoya's twisted mouth and puffed cheek.

"Sorry, don't mind me."

Nishinoya grumbled. "I think I'm done for now."

"Nah, let's keep spiking!" Tanaka picked up a volleyball and pushed it into Nishinoya's chest. He released it, and Nishinoya let it fall to the floor.

"Yaku, why don't you join us and do block followups?" Yamamoto asked.

"None of you are even blocking."

"Oh." 

"Just forget it. Let's wait for practice," Yaku said. 

Tanaka and Yamamoto were grumbling, but Nishinoya looked relieved. He wiped an arm across his forehead and slid against the wall to rest. Yaku leaned on the wall next to Nishinoya. 

"Are you actually tired already?" Yaku asked.

"No," Nishinoya mumbled. He leaned more to the side, and his arm brushed against Yaku's leg. 

Yaku wasn't expecting that, and he flinched. He pushed his arm away. "Don't lean on me." 

"I didn't even touch you," Nishinoya said as he untied his shoes to retie them. He leaned over his knees afterward, waiting for practice to start. They both watched as Tanaka and Yamamoto drifted by the doorway to heckle Kuroo when he walked in.

 

* * *

 

The next day, Nishinoya tried to practice tossing again. Tanaka gave Yamamoto a warning so they could both join, and Nishinoya gave in and let them.

"Too bad I can't help," Yaku said, turning his hands up in the air.

Nishinoya waved at him vaguely. "Just watching is fine!"

Some of the tosses went as badly as yesterday. One ball flew over Yamamoto's head, and Yamamoto's arms crossed in the air and flailed when they found nothing. Yaku saw Nishinoya's twisted nose and Tanaka's shaking guffaws, and he felt compelled to step away from the wall and walk closer.

By the time he was on the court, Nishinoya was making another toss to Tanaka. Yaku paused as it was set into motion, curving in the air and fitting into Tanaka's hand with a smack.

Nishinoya's hands remained in its toss in surprise, but Tanaka and Yamamoto didn't miss what happened. They whooped and threw their arms in the air, jumping with enough noise to bring Nishinoya back.

Nishinoya mimicked them for a second, but then he stepped to the side, colliding with Yaku and throwing an arm around him. 

"Did you see that, Morisuke?!" 

Yaku was already choking on his words from being grabbed, and hearing Nishinoya use his first name made him jerk. "What?" 

Nishinoya didn't hear him, he kept leaning on Yaku and shaking him. Yaku was going to mumble something about using his name like that, but Nishinoya continued to shake and hold him, and Yaku grew stiff and quiet. He looked at Nishinoya, hard, mouth pressing together instead of saying anything. A discontented noise came from his throat, and his shoulders bristled up.

"Nishinoya, get off." He guided Nishinoya away and brushed his shoulders off, trying to grimace but failing to actually do it. 

Yamamoto leaned to the side, closer to Yaku. "You look kind of red."

Yaku knew what he meant. Instead of falling for it, he gestured over his own clothes. "Is that supposed to be a joke? I'm wearing red all over."

Tanaka snorted, and Yaku was sure that neither of them understood what Yamamoto really meant.

**Author's Note:**

> (General A/N that exists at the end of all my fics): I find unsolicited concrit really rude, I'm not looking for any. Please don't tell me someone was OOC/something happened you didn't like/it's too short/etc. in any bookmarks or comments.


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